Okay… well, disarray in a family is never something to celebrate because sometimes it goes too far, but I find it be somewhat necessary in order for those with repressed feelings to finally be able to talk about what it is that’s bothers them. Jey not being here, again, with The Bloodline I hope is meant to help those who have been deceived to believe one thing when really it isn’t right, can see that Roman isn’t how he perceives to be.
It’s fine to tell the person you care about that their actions are harmful even painful; otherwise, they’re going to keep thinking it’s tolerable. I think that Jimmy was lying to himself when he said on RAW that The Bloodline is stronger than ever. In the contrary, it’s teetering.
When Roman told Washington to acknowledge him, he looked so set aback when Cody Rhodes’ theme music started playing. Ha! His face. So bothered.
All Rhodes came out here for was to have a chat with Reigns alone, so he found it to be useless to have Heyman, Jimmy and Sikoa in the ring as well. That comment prompts Roman to excuse the majority of The Bloodline to exit. Wow. He’s learning… He even placed his titles on the mat to make Cody comfortable.
For everyone else, Roman may be seen as impossible to defeat, but to Cody, he isn’t. Reigns is difficult but not impossible. However, Roman finds Cody’s attempts at frightening him to be “Flawless”, which I find hilarious. He’s been groomed by both his father and Rhodes’ father as well. So he doesn’t insult him like Paul Heyman did.
Cody notes that regardless of the fact Heyman said Reigns was probably the son Dusty Rhodes always wanted, he’ll have to beat Roman in order to exist. “May the better man win.”
Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley
Ah, one of my favorite rivalries, friends to enemies. Stories like these are always the most intriguing to watch, honest to God.
Morgan explodes right out of the gate with a drop kick to Rhea’s upper body before charging at her with multiple slaps to the chest.
Ripley drops Morgan on the mat face first then attacks her with a running knee to the jaw. I have to mention this… Since when are Dominik and Rhea dating? I thought Dom already had a girlfriend… I’m definitely lost.
Anyway, Liv manages to slip through Ripley’s grasp then proceeds to body slam her opponent against the turnbuckles. She’s on the second ropes, and drops Rhea from her throat. Morgan had the most control in this match until Ripley swats Liv away, and she lands harshly on the main floor.
As Rhea sends a message to Charlotte Flair, she introduces herself as “Rhea bloody Ripley”. I knew this was going to weave itself in at some point.
Ripley delivers a massively painful punch to Liv’s kidney as it rings across the stadium. It was hurtful to watch. Luckily, Morgan opens a small window by sending Rhea a back breaker and a slingshot into the ropes.
Morgan almost had Ripley beat with an impressive Code Breaker off the second rope, but Rhea kicks out. Liv misses with the Oblivion, then Ripley misses with the Riptide as Morgan counters with a Step Up Enziguri.
Amazingly, as Morgan leaps from the top rope this time, Ripley quickly counters. She plants her opponent with the Riptide, even though, she’s not done yet. Rhea invokes the inverted Texas Clover Leaf and presses a knee to the back of Liv’s neck to tap out.
By the way, there was a shot of this little girl crying because Liv lost. I have to admit, I laughed.
Winner: Rhea Ripley
Backstage in The Bloodline locker room, Roman asks Jimmy if he spoke to his brother. Jimmy tells him that Jey is a hothead, all he needs is time to cool off. However, we both know that’s not true. Reigns is running out of patience, but not with Jey, with Jimmy. I choked for a moment… I can tell that made Jimmy feel empty.
Elsewhere, Santos Escobar is sure that Rey Mysterio should have hit Dom, but he understands why he didn’t. Not hitting your children doesn’t make one a disgrace as Dominik so arrogantly informed us last week. Escobar challenges Dom to a match because if Rey won’t hit him, he will.
Santos Escobar vs. Dominik Mysterio
Escobar wanted Dom one-on-one, and of course, mommy is here as well. Michael Cole calls her Dom’s protector, while Wade Barrett says this is young love “Let it blossom”. I think Barrett is using the context wrong here, this is poison. It will kill all around it.
As Dom normally does, he scurries into the haven of the ropes, so the official could remove Escobar. He takes the distraction as an opening to drop kick Santos on his back before placing him into a headlock.
Santos shoves Dom’s face against the post, so he could look at the mask Rey gave him. He shouts “This is your legacy!” to Dom “Do you respect it?!” The young Mysterio spits at the mask and says no. Look, I get not always wanting to follow in your parents’ footsteps, thus you make your own legacy. What I don’t get is why does he have to be so self-absorbed while he’s at it? A simple and kind no would have sufficed.
Santos takes Dom down then twists him into a human rainbow prior to kicking him off. Ha! Dom manages to take back control with a crossbody outside the ring.
Later on, Dom was about to poorly imitate Rey’s 619 move, but he ends up not doing it. Rather he chokes Santos with the middle rope. Obviously the five count applies here, so he lets go resulting in Escobar raining down on him with punches to the head.
Dom does the same thing Santos did to him earlier by shoving his head closer to Rey’s mask. Only this time, Dom says that Santos respects him, not his dad. I’m like, what the hell? You haven’t earned that, angsty boy. No!
Dom took a bit too long to finish Escobar, therefore, Santos knocks the petulant child on his ass numerous times. He even puts himself in harms way by colliding heads with Dom in the middle of the ring. Ouch! Damn…
The ref was doing half his job when he noticed Dom’s brace knuckles, nevertheless, he didn’t pay attention when Rhea yanks Santos outside to deliver the Riptide then shoves him back into the ring. What the official could have done was swat Ripley before the match started. Oh well, we can’t have everything…
Dom frog splashes Santos for a… should I even call it a win? Dom wants to be respected, so how about you win matches by yourself for a change? You know, just try. No more mommy.
On their way out, Dom steals Rey’s gift to Santos then proceeds to rip it in front of everyone. That’s his version of a power move until Rey shows up demanding his mulled mask back. Dom urges his dad to hit him, which he doesn’t, hence the cheap shot.
“Another disgusting, pathetic display by Dominik Mysterio!” said Michael Cole. According to Barrett, Cole was having a tantrum. Ha! “Take a deep breath.”
Winner: Dominik Mysterio
An Exclusive clip shows Sami Zayn making his way to the arena with a message. The Bloodline won’t get rid of Sami till his done making a point that the once powerful faction is crumbling down as he’s been predicting for weeks. I think I came up with a great title name for him. Sami Zayn the Calculative Destroyer. Barrett deems Sami more of as a Trojan Horse.
We’re getting closer to WrestleMania, and McIntyre still doesn’t have a match. Therefore, he’s calling Gunther out for the Intercontinental Championship. What came as a surprise while we waited was that Sheamus ends up coming out instead questioning Drew’s intentions. He takes it personally since he’s wanted that title first, and it’s alluded him for years. A knife to the chest and back.
The thing is, Sheamus isn’t Drew’s parent. “Do I need to ask you to wipe my ass next?” Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! I cried so much. Although, Sheamus did see McIntyre as his brother. Now he’s a “backstabbing bastard”.
Since they’re friends and friends tell the truth, McIntyre says that Sheamus had his chance and lost it twice. I’ll have to stop you there, Celtic warrior. Sheamus got bamboozled the first time he competed for the title. Gunther tapped. We all saw it. In spite of that, he did lose the second time. So, in reality, he lost once.
The tension was getting good, but LA Knight had to interrupt, didn’t he? Nonetheless, Drew and Sheamus don’t seem to be paying Knight any mind. Ha! “The mega star is here!” that no one seems to give a damn about.
While LA Knight is talking, Drew and Sheamus are still arguing, The New Day arrive on the scene too. Woods and Kingston wanted to apologize on Knight’s behalf for being a whiny Karen. Ha! I’ve never used this roast before, but I feel like it’s fitting.
If this invasion of superstars wasn’t enough, things take a dark turn when Scarlett and Karrion Kross descend on SmackDown. But who cares about that? LA Knight jumps Kofi from behind then Woods gets involved and shoved into Drew then Sheamus pushes him off. Knight grabs a hold of Xavier and throws him out. Sheamus delivers a clothesline to the mega superstar sending him over the ropes. Drew flies and crashes on bodies. Now Karrion lunges Sheamus into the post. Madness.
Each of these men want the Intercontinental Championship, so let’s make this a 5-way match between Sheamus, LA Knight, Karrion Kross, Drew McIntyre and Gunther at WrestleMania. Somewhat of a tweak, this becomes a 5-way qualification match for next week, plus Kofi is part of the lineup.
Shayna Baszler vs. Tegan Nox
Right after the bell, Nox drop kicks Shayna on her back, a kick to the face then a cannonball in the corner sending her into a whiplash.
Baszler was about to stomp on Tegan’s arm, yet she counters by slinging her over then follows that up with a spinning kick to Shayna’s jaw. Shayna blocks Tegan’s knee, yanks on her leg, and Nox goes face first against the mat.
Shayna breaks Tegan’s arm since she came after Ronda moments ago before the match started. An arm for an arm. Now Nox is left fighting with one limb. She’s not doing so well, mind you. Nox does roll Shayna up, but it was in vain since Baszler sends a ringing knee.
Just for the hell of it and to win, Shayna submits Tegan using her injured arm.
Winner: Shayna Baszler
Comically, Gunther finds the lack of leadership from Adam Pearce to be a disgrace because he hasn’t found him an opponent worthy of his talents for WrestleMania.
A completely unscheduled visit from Bobby Lashley is in effect. After that deranged mashup of clips Bray Wyatt displayed on RAW, Lashley says he isn’t going to wait for Wyatt to find him. He’ll go to Bray by showing up on SmackDown.
The music plays as we wait for Wyatt to arrive, shockingly, it’s Uncle Howdy attacking Bobby from behind. The trap was sprung for Lashley, although, he plants Howdy on his back as well. He was primed and ready to take Howdy down, but the lights went off. When they came back up, Howdy was gone. He escaped.
In The Bloodline lounge, Jimmy tells Roman that Jey said to “leave him the hell alone.” I gasped. Ha! Ha!
Roman almost says “After everything I’ve done for him”, but quickly rephrases that with “after everything we’ve done for him”. Always about you Reigns, isn’t it? The problem will always be someone else, so Roman instructs Jimmy to be with Solo during his match against Sami and get rid of him. If he accomplishes that task, Reigns mistakenly thinks Jey will come back with a new brainwashed mind.
Also, if Jey isn’t back in The Bloodline in one week, Roman will blame Jimmy.
Solo Sikoa vs. Sami Zayn
The bell hasn’t even rang when Sami was pounding away at Solo, Jimmy leaps into action, and is swiftly taken care of. Zayn bounces off the ropes and flies.
When this fight officially starts, Sikoa shoves Sami aside as he lands on the back of his head. Zayn manages to counter by sending Solo outside again.
There’s Jimmy Uso, spitting words of pain into Sami’s face, distracting him from the issue at hand. Sikoa utilizes that to bulldoze Zayn with his body then the post.
Sami attempts to chop Solo, yet that hardly affects him as he rains down with a headbutt. Zayn looks to rally after a great clothesline. Both men bounce off the ropes, then Solo whiplashes Sami with a Samoan Drop.
Sami fights back with multiple kicks to the head of Sikoa as he sits on top of the ring then connects with a Tornado DDT.
He tries to lift Solo for the Blue Thunderbomb, but Sami doesn’t have enough momentum to do so. Plus, Sikoa was hammering away at Sami’s head. Zayn is able to perform the Blue Thunderbomb after Solo hit his head hard against the post.
As Sami went for the Helluva Kick, Jimmy pulls Solo of out of the way. Sikoa delivers the Samoan Spike for a victory. Although this match is over, the beatings aren’t close to being done. Solo and Jimmy team up to eliminate Sami by wrapping a chair around his neck.
The amount of time wasted gave Sami space to gather his stamina. He throws the chair to Solo’s face then sends a Helluva Kick to Jimmy. Sami had the chair ready to hit Jimmy with, but Sikoa swiftly intervenes as Zayn retreats into the crowd.
That leaves Jimmy with an incomplete job, so Roman is going to blame him for it. Because that’s what it means to be part of a family, blaming others. What an ingenious lesson for our kids.
Winner: Solo Sikoa
TOP PHOTO: Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns chatting. Courtesy WWE
